There’s been a lot of concern in recent years – some of it overdone – about cultural appropriation. This is the phenomenon when people dress or act like a culture they do not belong to. As I just wrote, some of it seems to protest too much, there is an aspect of it that is very real; the concern that some of this appropriation might be misusing sacred (or other) aspects of a culture. And although it is often said that that imitation is the highest compliment, the actual quote from Oscar Wilde is, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” Oscar wasn’t impressed.
But what about religious appropriation? I have seen it for years; secular Christmas music, the Easter bunny and his eggs, and so much more. Christians have been among the guiltiest, taking symbols and practices of other cultures and religions and merging them with their own. It is a smart way to connect with people you are trying to recruit, and it can be harmless. Sometimes, though, it isn’t. And it’s around this time of year that it irks me the most; the money-making machine that capitalizes on the Easter season by selling cards, candy, flowers, bonnets, and stuffed animals – the secular Easter parade, if you will.
There is a scene that happens at the end of Jesus’s entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey (or colt, or both) that is rarely read on Palm Sunday – Jesus sees the Temple for the first time (in the Gospel of Matthew), and He gets so angry at the sight of the money-changers and merchants that He responds in violence, turning their tables over and driving them off the steps (no whip in this account). His famous words ““It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it “a den of robbers.’” are spoken here. I have heard this interpreted in numerous ways, but it seems clear to me that Jesus was upset by people using the center of Jewish faith practice as a way to enrich themselves. He wasn’t upset that the priests got paid or that people gave their money to the Temple; He was upset that some people used the trappings of religion to line their pockets. Like the practice of stealing ad slogans and “christianizing” them on t-shirts.
You want to dress up and go to brunch? Knock yourself out; just don’t call it Easter Brunch if you don’t practice the faith. You want to have a nice Christmas Dinner? Be my guest! Go to church first. This isn’t a judgment of you or your faith; it’s a sincere way of asking people to stop using words and practices that are sacred to others if you don’t practice them. Easter and Christmas and Passover and Ramadan and every other religious practice are not there for our amusement; they are meaningful in our relationship to God. Like Christians who misuse the Passover to have Christian Seders, capitalists should find other ways to make their money. Or risk having Jesus turn their tables over. That would not end well for any of us.
Prayer – Teach us to respect each other’s traditions, God of each practice and piety, so that we might be led closer to You and each other. Amen.